Liberace To Be Tested For Aids

February 7, 1987|United Press International

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Mourners gathered Friday to remember Liberace but the service was overshadowed by a coroner`s doubts about the validity of a death certificate that failed to mention the possibility the entertainer had AIDS.

He refused to say what those records were, or where they came from. He did say, however, the body would be tested for AIDS.

Meanwhile, about 500 family members, friends and fans attended Mass for the flamboyant pianist. Those attending included actors Kirk Douglas and Isabel Sanford. Bob Hope`s wife, Delores, also was there.

President Reagan sent a telegram, remembering Liberace -- who used furs, jewels and a candelabra as props while performing -- as ``the ultimate entertainer.``

Liberace`s death certificate, signed by Dr. Ronald Daniels, said the cause of death was cogestive heart failure brought on by encephalopathy, a general term for degenerative brain disease.

The Las Vegas Sun, in a copyright story Jan. 24, quoted informed sources as saying Liberace was dying from AIDS.

State law requires that county coroners investigate deaths that are suspected of having been caused by contagious disease.

A private burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills had been planned for this weekend, Rosas said. The body, however, was ordered returned from the funeral home for examination at the Riverside coroner`s forensic center.

Dick Fisher, a spokesman for Forest Lawn Memorial Park, said Liberace`s body was placed in a van and returned to Riverside County at 10 a.m.

The body, he said, had already been embalmed. Embalming does not prevent AIDS testing. In such an instance, officials use tissues, instead of blood, for the test.

Fisher also defused a rumor that the body had been cremated. ``There was no cremation,`` he said.

Coroner Raymond Carrillo on Thursday rejected the death certificate signed by Liberace`s physician after the entertainer`s death at 2:05 p.m. Wednesday.

Rosas said the body would be examined and Liberace`s medical records studied before the cause of death is determined. He said it was uncertain whether an autopsy would be necessary. The examination`s findings, he said, should be complete ``in two or three days.``

Rosas also suggested the doctor who signed the death certificate could face disciplinary action from the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance should the death certificate prove false.

Mortuary officials also could face criminal charges for failing to notify the coroner, Carrillo said.

Rosas said investigators were upset Liberace`s death was not automatically reported to the coroner`s office. State law requires any death that occurs at home without the attendance of a physician to be reported to the coroner.